New Coen Brother’s Film ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’

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The Coen Brothers have recently taken to a pattern of releasing a big budget film followed by a more low-budget affair. Following their gritty remake of classic John Wayne western True Grit, Joel and Ethan next project, Inside Llewyn Davis, is a smaller, quieter affair about a folks singer making his way in NYC.

The trailer for the première of the film at the Cannes Film Festival was just released yesterday and film fans all over the world can not contain their excitement. Stylistically the film has a very cold blue, low-key lighting scheme with whites so bright their blown out. It really is a beautiful trailer to watch.

The cast is pretty all-star as well – Oscar Isaac, best known for a small role in Drive, will be portraying the titular Llewyn Davis and Carey Mulligan stars as Llewyn’s ex. Justin Timberlake and John Goodman both have supporting roles, appearing as a singer and a music mogul respectively. Adam Driver, F. Murray Abraham and Garrett Hedlund also appear in the film.

Mulligan’s real life husband Marcus Mumford will be writing original music for the film so expect a killer new soundtrack to début with the film as well.

Inside Llewyn Davis premieres early this summer at the Cannes Film Festival in France, but for those not invited to the festival we’ll be able to see it next December.

Ennio Morricone None Too Pleased with ‘Django Unchained’

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Every film student since 1994 has had a huge crush for Quentin Tarantino. The man who makes films that “break traditions” and show “true mastery”. Somehow he has been called the greatest and most natural writer of our generation, but I see nothing natural about incessant pop cultural references. Tarantino’s music choices have also been praised for being risky and pushing the limits. His most recent film Django Unchained brought that to new heights when he had rap music playing during a Civil War period piece. Rap music and one beautiful Ennio Morricone piece that played during the most breathtaking sequence Tarantino has ever manged to put together.

However, Mr. Morricone wasn’t as pleased with the final outcome of the film as most people. Apparently while speaking to a group of Roman students he said that Tarantino “places music in his films without coherence.” A fair complaint as rap music was seemingly placed in Django Unchained only for the reason of “hey I haven’t used rap yet”.

Ennio Morricone didn’t stop at that though. When The Hollywood Reporter asked the composer for his opinion on the film as a whole he said “To tell the truth, I didn’t care for it, too much blood.”

It’s rather uncommon for a composer to speak out negatively on a film he wrote a composition for, but Ennio Morricone has more than earned his right to. Most spaghetti westerns are considered classics for the sole reason of their amazing soundtracks composed by Mr. Morricone. 

Oscar Winners and Losers: My Predictions

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The “big night” for Hollywood is finally here. And whether you love the Oscar’s or hate them, the allure of Hollywood’s greatest honoring their finest is almost too much to pass up. I’m going to take my swing at the nominations and predict who will win. Just remember to send me some money after I help you win the Oscar pool tonight.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

The nominees?

  • Amour
  • Django Unchained
  • Flight
  • Moonrise Kingdom
  • Zero Dark Thirty

The Breakdown?

Tarantino won the award at the Golden Globes, but his speech wasn’t the traditional thanks that the Academy expected. And since the last votes for the Oscar’s are taken after the Golden Globes many times these speeches can predict the winner. Mark Boal won the award for his last effort The Hurt Locker, but is Zero Dark Thirty too similar and was the torture scandal too much bad publicity? Moonrise Kingdom is another fan favorite but it is much too quirky for the Academy. Amour won praise for its writing, but is too foreign to win one of the main categories. Why was Flight even nominated?

The Winner?

Django Unchained. Between Django Unchained and Lincoln Hollywood was abuzz with the topic of slavery and the South this year. Tarantino chose an enjoyable alternate view for his story, and even though in my opinion the character development was questionable, the story of a freed black getting revenge on Southerners is more than enough to salivate the liberal, white-guilt ridden Academy populous.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

The Nominees?

  • Argo
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Silver Linings Playbook

The Breakdown?

Life of Pi had been called an unfilmable novel. The fact that it was filmed and was very enjoyable to watch is a testament to the writer David Magee. Silver Linings Playbook was the best written romantic comedy I have ever seen, David O. Russel could win just for the feat alone. Lincoln is well written Oscar bait, that was the favorite going into the season. Argo is an amazing and captivating film, and it’s running off the momentum of hate towards the fact that Ben Affleck got snubbed. Beasts of the Southern Wild is the underdog indie film that has no chance of winning but the fact it was nominated is enough.

The Winner​?

Argo and it’s writer Chris Terrio is going to take the statue here. The race is truly between Argo, Lincoln, and Silver Linings Playbook. Argo is running off huge momentum from winning the best film from the Writers Guild of America, and is a worthy recipient.

Visual Effects

The Nominees?

  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  • Life of Pi
  • The Avenger’s
  • Prometheus
  • Snow White and the Huntsman

The Breakdown?

The category of summer blockbusters. The Hobbit not only had terrible special effects, but the use of CGI was a slap in the face to the original trilogy. Life of Pi had the best effects I had ever seen, I thought Richard Parker was a real tiger until my friend informed me he was CGI. The Avenger’s was a flash bang of well done CGI. Prometheus was much more in the vain of traditional visual effects and it payed of for the style of the film. Snow White and the Huntsman had the visual effects of a team of talented kids messing with CGI software.

The Winner​?

No discussion necessary this award is going to the team behind Life of Pi. And if it doesn’t it may be the biggest upset of the evening. And even then only The Avengers has a slight chance of upsetting. Life of Pi all the way.

Sound Editing

The Nominees?

  • Argo
  • Django Unchained
  • Life of Pi
  • Skyfall
  • Zero Dark Thirty

The Breakdown​?

The more technical categories are the hardest to predict. Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty find their best chances here, being action based films really help them out a lot. But Django Unchained, Argo, and Life of Pi also have complex soundscapes as well.

The Winner?

Life of Pi emerges from the pack as a favorite due to not only the complex soundscapes of the action packed sequences, but the use of silence as well.

Sound Mixing

The Nominees?

  • Argo
  • Les Misérables
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Skyfall

The Breakdown?

Again technical categories are tough to call. Les Misérables has the unique quality that all sining was captured live, that makes it a huge favorite. Skyfall is playing the action film card again, you try capturing and mixing the sounds of what a train crashing in the London underground is. The rest of the films can almost be considered filler in the contest to the two aforementioned films.

The Winner?

Les Misérables is going to win. It was technically a well done film, and the advertising of the capture of live singing makes it too much of a public sweetheart to lose.

Music (Original Song)

The Nominees?

  • “Before My Time” Chasing Ice
  • “Everyone Needs A Best Friend” TED
  • “Pi’s Lullaby” Life of Pi
  • “Skyfall” Skyfall
  • “Suddenly” Les Misérables

The Breakdown?

Before everyone gets in a tizzy that Les Misérables was snubbed from having every single nominee in this category, it is the best original song. Sorry “I Dreamed a Dream”, but you don’t qualify for the category. Chasing Ice is a documentary nominated for best original song, plus Scarlett Johansson sang on the beautiful, but it won’t win. “Suddenly” was a strange, and controversial addition to Les Mis, and the song form Life of Pi suffers from the fact that the soundtrack blended together as one huge piece. This is a race between Skyfall and TED.

The Winner?

TED follows the tradition of comedy songs being contenders for the song category, but it stands no chance against the duo of Adele and James Bond, who will surely win.

Music (Original Score)

The Nominees?

  • Anna Karenina
  • Argo
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Skyfall

The Breakdown?

Life of Pi had a beautiful, minimalist score that grew and dwindled perfectly with the screen. Lincoln is a John Williams score, so you probably heard all the variations it has to offer but still secretly love it. Argo had music? I don’t even remember it. Same with Skyfall, the only music I remember is Adele. I haven’t seen Anna Karenina but I’m sure it had a romantic era orchestrated soundtrack.

The Winner?

Life of Pi should win, and if it doesn’t John Williams will win again for his work on Lincoln. 

Foreign Language Film

The Nominees?

  • Amour Austria
  • Kon-Tiki Norway
  • No Chile
  • A Royal Affair Denmark
  • War Witch Canada

The Breakdown​

I actually can’t comment on any of these films since I’ve seen none of them. The foreign film category is always under attack for making it seem like foreign films are lesser than American made ones. If you ever get a chance, watch any and all of these films – most likely it will be worth it.

The Winner?

Michale Haneke and Austria have this award in the bag. Heck the man is nominated for best director, if that’s not a sign to come, what is?

Film Editing

The Nominees

  • Argo
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Zero Dark Thirty

The Breakdown

Life of Pi had some very strange editing choices that harkened back to the style used in the 50′s. It was strange and kinda distanciating from the rest of the film experience. Silver Linings Playbook and Lincoln both had traditional editing styles that were perfectly invisible but in no way superb or inventive. Argo had sequences of cross cutting between events that lasted about only ten minutes of runtime but felt like thirty minutes of watch time, that’s good editing. Zero Dark Thirty had the same effect, but I did not see it so I cannot comment on the experience.

The Winner?

The big winner of the night in editing is going to be William Goldenberg, he was nominated twice for Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, the two favorite films to win. Expect the win to come from the first, not the latter.

Feature Documentary

The Nominees?

  • 5 Broken Cameras
  • The Gatekeepers
  • How to Survive the Plague
  • The Invisible War
  • Searching For Sugarman

The Breakdown?

Searching For Sugarman had the widest release of all of the films. The local art cinema in my college town had previews for it running before every single showing. The rest of the films are easily watchable either on Netflix, Hulu, or other internet sites. Also adding to the mix is that this is the first year that all members of the Academy were sent screeners of the documentary films and can now vote on them. Maybe the socially conscious minds of the Academy voters will chose a more “important and pressing” film to win.

The Winner?

Searching for Sugarman is the go to favorite for every website making predictions. But don’t be surprised if one of the more issue based films win.

Best Animated Film

The Nominees?

  • Brave
  • Frankenweenie
  • ParaNorman
  • The Pirates! Band of Misfits
  • Wreck-it Ralph

The Breakdown?

This is a jam packed category full of critically and popularly successful films. It also is signally a switch in animation, there is not a single traditionally hand drawn film – instead we have three stop-motion films and two computer graphic films. Still the three big favorites are all Disney films with the other two playing underdogs.

The Winner?

ParaNorman was in my opinion the best, but sadly most likely won’t win. This is a toss-up between Brave and Wreck-it Ralph to win.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

The Nominees?

  • Hitchcock
  • The Hobbit
  • Les Misérables

The Breakdown?

Hitchcock got the nod for making Anthony Hopkins look like the significantly more rotund Alfred Hitchcock. The Hobbit is coming from the tradition of Lord of the Rings films winning for makeup, but the offensive use of CGI to create the orcs and goblins is going to be the death of the film. Les Misérables had a haircut happen live on screen.

The Winner?

Les Misérables has this almost in the bag. If The Hobbit was to win it would be a small scale upset. 

Best Production Design

The Nominees?

  • Anna Karenina
  • The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
  • Les Misérables
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln

The Breakdown?

This is a race between CGI versus classical mise-en-scen. Lincoln is definitely the underdog in the catgory as it faces strong resistance from the classic period pieces of Anna Karenina and Les Misérables. Life of Pi created a beautiful world, and it was almost all done in a computer, same with The Hobbit.

The Winner?

Life of Pi had beautiful visuals on screen. The carnivorous island and florescent water are the obvious stand-out scenes, and probably why it will win this category.

Costume Design

The Nominees?

  •  Anna Karenina
  • Les Misérables
  • Mirro Mirror
  • Snow White and the Huntsman

The Breakdown?

The two Snow White inspired films are here, for filler. A slight nod saying “yes, good job making the same story look two different ways”. The real competition is between the historical dramas. Lincoln suffers from the fact that it is mainly men on screen, and they are just wearing 19 century suits, which are basically 21 century suits, but with tails. Les Misérables has beautiful french costumes versus the beautiful English costumes of Anna Karenina

The Winner?

Anna Karenina and it’s majestic courtly dresses will take home the statue. The academy voters of this category really love classic victorian dresses. 

Cinematography

The Nominees?

  •  Anna Karenina
  • Django Uncahined
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Skyfall

The Breakdown?

If Skyfall wanted to win an award to show that this version of James Bond wasn’t a joke, this is the award. The shots in the thriller were inventive, creative, and beautiful. Lincoln went for the more subdued approach of cinematography. Life of Pi, went with the look at all the beautiful things we can create in a computer approach. Django Unchained had the most beautiful cinematography in the first half of it’s film, but slowly slipped into over saturated reds and ugliness as it progressed. I’ve never seen Anna Karenina but can only guess that it is the same, ugly grays and dusty sunlight that all Victorian pieces are.

The Winner?

Life of Pi will win because of the sheer beauty and brilliance of the images on screen. If only Django Unchained had continued with low-key, wide, expansive shots of the west they would be the winners. 

Directing

The Nominees?

  • Michael Haneke Amour
  • Benh Zeitlin Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Ang Lee Life of Pi
  • Steven Spielberg Lincoln
  • David O. Russel Silver Linings Playbook

The Breakdown?

Ben Affleck.

The Winner?

Either Steven Spielberg or Ang Lee. But it should be Ben Affleck.

Actor in a Leading Role

The Nominees?

  • Bradley Cooper Silver Linings Playbook
  • Daniel Day-Lewis Lincoln
  • Hugh Jackman Les Misérables
  • Joaquin Phoenix The Master
  • Denzel Washington Flight

The Breakdown?

Why is Denzel even nominated for Flight? John Hawkes and his performance in The Sessions is much more deserving. Hugh Jackman did an amazing job in Les Misérables but perhaps used the whole singing live and mixing it up a bit too much, read as his version of Valjeans’s soliloquy was pretty horrendous. Joaquin Phoenix was amazing in The Master it’s a shame the film won’t win a single award. In any other year Bradley Cooper would have won best actor for his performance, unfortunately Daniel Day-Lewis is in contention as well.

The Winner?

Daniel Day-Lewis is the obvious winner. If he doesn’t win, it will be shocking, but Cooper is deserving as well. 

Actor in a Supporting Role

The Nominees?

  • Alan Arkin Argo
  • Robert De Niro Silver Linings Playbook
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman The Master
  • Tommy Lee Jones Lincoln
  • Christoph Waltz Django Uncahined

The Breakdown?

Christoph Waltz has been winning this in every single award show so far. Even though in my opinion his performance in the film was so obviously second to that of Leonardo DiCaprio. Tommy Lee Jones was a front runner early on in the season, everyone loved to praised his performance – but that has simmered down. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a force to be reckoned with while he was on screen during The Master. Alan Arkin was washed away with the rest of the ensemble during Argo. De Niro performance in Silver Linings Playbook was emotional and cocky and beyond well played.

The Winner?

De Niro deserves the award for his performance as a disgruntled and confused dad in Silver Linings Playbook but no one would be surprised if Tommy Lee Jones got the win as well.

Actress in a Supporting Role

The Nominees

  • Amy Adams The Master
  • Sally Field Lincoln
  • Anne Hathaway Les Misérables
  • Helen Hunt The Sessions
  • Jackie Weaver Silver Linings Playbook

The Breakdown?

This category can be seen as the female equivalent to Best Actor this year. Anne Hathaway has all but won already. That’s not to discount the powerful performances by Amy Adams as the master of the master in The Master or Helen Hunt in The Sessions. But somehow giving Hunt an award when John Hawkes wasn’t even nominated is unfair. Sally Field and Jacki Weaver performances as wives to “powerful” men in their respected films were moving, but not what the Academy seems to want this year.

The Winner?

Anne Hathaway has this in the bag. No questions asked.

Actress in a Leading Role

The Nominees?

  • Jessica Chastain Zero Dark Thirty
  • Jennifer Lawrence Silver Linings Playbook
  • Emmanuella Riva Amour
  • Quvenzhané Wallis Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Naomi Watts The Impossible

The Breakdown?

This category was a two pony race between Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence until Emmanuella Riva came into the picture with the Academy’s love for Amour. It also has the distinction for having the oldest nominee and youngest nominee in the same category. There was a late ad push for Naomi Watts performance in The Impossible but not enough people saw the film for a win to be possible for her.

The Winner?

If the Academy goes for the sentimental vote they would give the award to Emmanuella Riva who will be turning 86 tonight, if the Academy goes for the public pleasing vote they would give it to Jennifer Lawrence who showed her versatility this year. My best guess is the latter with Jennifer Lawrence winning. 

Best Picture

The Nominees?

  • Amour
  • Argo
  • Beasts of the Southern Wild
  • Django Unchained
  • Les Misérables
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Silver Linings Playbook
  • Zero Dark Thirty

The Breakdown?

A film cannot win Best Picture if it’s director was not nominated for Best Director. That eliminates Django Unchained, Les Misérables, and Zero Dark Thirty. And Argo. Beasts of the Southern Wild is the underdog indie choice, being nominated is a win for it. Life of Pi and Lincoln are the classic Hollywood films, and both have a strong chance of winning. Amour is the foreign love child, that the Academy took under it’s wings as its own. Silver Linings Playbook is the rare romantic comedy getting a well deserved nod.

The Winner?

Argo. Regardless of whether Ben Affleck was nominated, this film will win. And Ben Affleck will be known as the best director of the 2012 year of film. The Academy screwed the pooch for not nominating him in the first place. Argo is the deserving, the underdog, and the right choice for Best Picture. 

 

‘Monsters University’ Sure to be Howling Good Time

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In recent years the king of animation has undoubtedly been Pixar. Everything they work on has been pure magic, they are even capable of making amazing squeals (read as Toy Story 3 made me cry). And now that the Toy Story franchise seems all but completed the company is beginning work on expanding the universes of more of their films. First up on the table is Monsters, Inc. and it’s prequel Monsters University. Last week the trailer for the film came out, and it seems like Pixar has another hit on their hand.

Telling the story of Mike and Sully in their college years, where the two were not only roommates but rivals, the film seems to be a spoof on classic college/high school films of the 80′s. A direction I am loving, a perfect combination of silly childish gag humor and knowledgeable self-aware reference humor.

As a bonus to the trailer, here’s a map of what the new home of Mike and Sully actually looks like. Monsters University Map

Monty Python Reunites for a Sci-Fi

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A new Monty Python film is something of a holy grail for fans of the British, academia comedy troupe. However today seems to be quite a good day; as John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin (Eric Idle soon to be on board) have announced they are creating a new film called “Absolutely Anything”.

Terry Jones who will take the directing chair told Variety that it  ”It’s not a Monty Python picture, but it certainly has that sensibility.” The sci-fi film centers on the members of the comedy team being aliens who grant a human the power to do absolutely anything just to see what happens. You can imagine how this concept fits into recreating King Author’s quest for the Holy Grail or imagining a new bureaucracy concerned with silly walks.

Another surprising and kinda exciting addition to the cast is Robin Williams who has signed onto the film in the role of a talking dog.

“House of Cards” is a Big Step/Risk for Netflix

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Netflix is a film lovers bestfriend. You get a back catalog of classic, blockbusters, television, and now original content all at your finger tips for a relatively low price. Starting last Friday, February 1, Netflix unleashed and ambitious in-house production House of Cards. With big industry players like Kevin Spacey, Beau Willmon (Ides of March), and David Fincher adding their heft to the project it’s about time to question whether this is the next big thing in film and television.

There are no silly cliffhangers at the end of the mid-season finally to keep you interested during the hiatus because there is no hiatus. All thirteen of the chapters were released at once. And there is no set time. Each chapter has as much time as it needs to tell its story. It’s a big change for what television can be, and it’s a big risk for a fragile company like Netflix to be taking. Cinematically House of Cards looks like a really well produced YouTube or Vimeo video, so it looks a lot like The Social Network, also done by Fincher.

house-of-cardsSpeaking of to the The Social Network is the comparison and contrasts of that film’s screenwriter Arron Sorkin and his debut television series The West Wing to House of Cards. Both are television shows concerned about Washington DC but with policy making taking a back burner to social structure and everyday life. Both are written by men who got there starts in the industry adapting a political play they wrote for the silver screen. Both have famous and award winning actors in the lead role.

So far I’ve only seen the first few minutes of the first episode, and I must warn you, there is no such thing as the fourth wall in this series. At all.